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Wednesday, 2 September 2015

The Yazidis.............ethnic cleansing of

(Photo credit - Joshua project)

(Photo credit - Creofire.com)

* The Yazidis are a distinct and independent minority community who have their own religion and culture. They live primarily in the Nineveh Province of Iraq. They are a distinct ethnic group and don’t consider themselves as Kurdish. Since Aug 2014, they have been targeted by the Islamic State, the deadliest militant group hell bent to eliminate non-Islamic minority groups in Iraq and Syria.

* The Yazidis live primarily in the present-day Iraq, Syria, and Turkey, and also in significant numbers in Armenia and Georgia. The bulk of the Yazidi population lives in Iraq, where they make up an important minority community. Their emigration has resulted in establishment of large diaspora abroad, mainly in Germany, where more than 100,000 Yazidis live. Some Yazidis also live in Belgium, Denmark, France, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada and Australia.

* In August 2007, about 500 Yazidis were killed in a series of bombings in Qahtaniya. In August 2009, at least 20 people were killed and 30 wounded in a double suicide bombing in northern Iraq. Two suicide bombers carried out attacks at a cafe in Sinjar, west of Mosul.

* ISIS which considers the Yazidis devil-worshippers, captured Sinjar in August 2014, forcing about 50,000 Yazidis to flee into the nearby mountains where they face starvation. Their plight initially received international media coverage, leading the western leaders to carry out humanitarian air drops of food and water in the Sinjar Mountain. Limited air strikes against the militants in support of the Yazidis was also carried out but it has not been able to prevent the genocide of the Yazidis out on the Mount Sinjar.

* However, the military action by the westerns powers leaves much to be desired. The Yazidis and other minority groups are still being killed and their women taken as sex slaves. What hold the US and its allies to go all out against the Islamic State? I fail to understand!